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Vapor growth and optimization of supersaturation for tailoring the physical properties of stoichiometric Sb2Se3 crystalline habits

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Abstract

The evolution of different morphologies (fibers, whiskers, needles, and spherulites) of antimony selenide (Sb2Se3), devoid of foreign chemical elements, was explored by the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method, employing an indigenously assembled tubular furnace, which showed layer growth mode as per the metallurgical and scanning electron micrographs. Supersaturation for crystallization was optimized by precisely controlling the difference in temperatures of nutrient and growth zones, ΔT = TN − TG, where ΔT = 125 to 350 °C. The strain and dislocation density of the crystals were evaluated from the crystallographic data. Monophase nature has been confirmed by Rietveld refinement analysis of the PXRD findings, using Full Proof software. UV–Vis-NIR and PL spectra of the morphologies revealed band gap, Eg in the range, 1.15–1.18 eV. Among these habits, good-quality whiskers bearing flat faces of appreciable crystallinity, stoichiometry, thermal stability and mechanical strength were produced due to the periodic deposition of atoms associated with the progression of smooth vapor–solid (v–β) interface as evident from PXRD, EDAX, XPS, TGA and microindentation analyses. Hall effect measurements resulted in obtaining appreciable values of electrical parameters, ρ = 145.36 Ω cm and n = 7.39 × 1018 cm−3 for PV applications. Moreover, optical studies justified direct transition with adequate photon absorption which promises the suitability of whiskers as absorbers in the energy conversion process.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors, A G Kunjomana, expresses gratitude to the University Grant Commission, New Delhi for providing the financial support to make use of the microscope and microhardness tester. Heartfelt acknowledgement goes to the Management of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore for the assistance in completing this work. Thanks are due to IISC, Bangalore, CUSAT, Kochi, and M G University for the characterization facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to Be University), Bangalore, Karnataka, 560029, India

    J. Bibin & A. G. Kunjomana

  2. Department of Physics, St. Thomas College, Palai, Kerala, 686574, India

    M. Teena

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  1. J. Bibin
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Contributions

The conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, and investigation, writing the original draft preparation, and review editing of the research paper were contributed by all the authors ‘JB, AGK and MT.’ The experiment and data collection were done by JB. The research work was supervised by Prof. AGK.

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Correspondence to A. G. Kunjomana.

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I hereby confirm that, the work described has not been published before; it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; and publication has been approved by all co-authors and the responsible authorities at the institute (s) where the work has been carried out. Moreover, the submission has not previously been considered for publication by any other journal. Author Bibin John has received PhD scholarship from the Management of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore. The authors declare they have no financial interests.

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Bibin, J., Kunjomana, A.G. & Teena, M. Vapor growth and optimization of supersaturation for tailoring the physical properties of stoichiometric Sb2Se3 crystalline habits. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 15814–15833 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08483-4

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